Israel targets Gaza tunnels as violence flares up; death toll at 129

Palestine fires more rockets; clash fuels communal fighting on streets

Israel’s forces fired artillery into the Hamas-run Gaza Strip on Friday and kept up a blistering five-day air assault that has so far failed to quell militant rocket attacks, sweeping aside international appeals for de-escalation.
 
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that an extended campaign was in the offing. The decision to attack with heavy aircraft, tank and artillery fire came at a uniquely sensitive time, though, as Israel grapples with the worst outbreak in years of violence between Arabs and Jews inside its borders.
 
The death toll and devastation from the fighting mounted. At least 120 Palestinians,